Steve Ellner's Blog on Venezuela, Latin America and Beyond

The centralization of ownership of the private media in the United States and elsewhere has become increasingly pronounced, at the same time that its reporting has become increasingly one-sided and monolithic. My blog seeks to expose this lack of objectivity and present alternative ideas that point in the direction of much-needed fundamental change.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Snowden Was Right In Going To Wikileaks

New York Times Whistleblower James Risen demonstrates that the entire political
establishment (Democrats and Republicans) were accomplices in covering up domestic
espionage. His obvious conclusion: that Edward Snowden was right in publishing his
documents in Wikileaks rather than going through established channels. Risen points
out that other whistleblowers who first attempted to report to their superiors have
paid a heavy price. Risen himself runs the risk of going to jail… as opposed to
those who committed the most gross violation of basic constitutional principles.
Risen also states that Obama has had the worst track record of any president in
blocking the divulgation of information that should be of the public domain because
it involves policy decisions which in a democratic society needs to be open to public
debate. Risen discusses all this in his new
book “Pay Any Price: Greed, Power, and Endless War.” http://www.democracynow.org/2014/10/14/james_risen_prepared_to_pay_any

Friday, October 10, 2014

ESCALATION IN IRAQ AND DECEPTIVE LANGUAGE

Obama says no boots on the ground in Iraq and Syria, but with the introduction
of slow-moving Apache Attack Helicopters this week, he’s getting as close as he
can to the use of combat troops. They’re just 150 feet above-ground and can be shot
down by rocket-propelled grenades or machine gun fire. I’m not opposed to going
after ISIS, but it can’t be a U.S. effort, nor one that just involves our undemocratic
Mid-East allies (ie. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the like) and NATO. It should involve much
broader support channeled through the UN. But that would mean talking to the Iranians
and Russians, among others.

Thursday, October 2, 2014

CHAVISTA LEADER ASSASSINATED

THE RIGHWING IS COMMITTING ACTS OF TERRORISM
IN VENEZUELA AND THE ONLY THING THAT WASHINGTON AND THE CORPORATE MEDIA TALK ABOUT
IS VIOLATION OF “HUMAN RIGHTS.” The charismatic youth leader and national deputy
Robert Serra was assassinated yesterday in his home along with his partner María Herrera.
Serra may have been the first on the 20-person hit list that Venezuelan student
activist Lorent Gómez Saleh (now in jail) referred to in a recorded conversation
that Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres revealed about a week ago. In the
conversation Gómez Saleh makes reference to sophisticated Remington arms for sharpshooters
with a list of twenty targets and indicates that he is in close contact with Alvaro
Uribe. The situation resembles the prelude to the overthrow of Salvador Allende.
After right wingers assassinated General René Schneider the Chilean opposition led
by the Christian Democratic Party, rather than distancing themselves from violent
actions, organized protests that gave legitimacy to the fascists. The Venezuelan
opposition acts in a similar manner. But what is really outrageous is how the White
House and U.S. Congress highlight alleged violation of human rights in Venezuela
when they know full well that the type of terrorism carried out in that nation would
never be tolerated in the U.S. Anybody remember the FBI-led repression against the
Black Panthers in the 60s?

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

WASHINGTON ASSERTS ITS MONOPOLY ON BOMBING TERRORISTS

According to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, only the U.S. has the right to bomb terrorists in northern Syria. The N. Y. Times reports that Hagel is considering proposing a no-fly zone in order to protect civilians from Syria government bombings. But who is Syria bombing? The same guys that the U.S. is bombing. Does Hagel seriously believe that civilians are immune to U.S. bombing but not that of its adversaries? The same N....Y. Times article indicates that Turkey favors the proposal and quotes Hagel as saying “we will continue to talk about what the Turks believe they will require.” Does Turkey’s sovereignty in Syria trump that of the Syrian government? Hagel’s statement is another example of Washington’s utter contempt for the national sovereignty of non-big power nations.

The same article also quoted Hagel as placing the cost of “the American military campaign in Iraq and Syria at between $7 million and $10 million a day.” You’d never know that social programs in the U.S. are being cut right and left! At second thought, maybe what’s good for the U.S. industrial complex is good for the economy.

About Me

Steve Ellner has taught economic history at the Universidad de Oriente in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela since 1977. He is the author of numerous books and journal and magazine articles on Venezuela history and politics. He frequently lectures on Venezuela and Latin American political developments in the U.S. and elsewhere. He received his Ph.D. in Latin American history at the University of New Mexico in 1980.